When Lara O’Connor first bought her husband, Brian, a LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon set five years ago, she never would have guessed that it would lead to a shared hobby for the couple, let alone to her becoming an entrepreneur.
Since that fateful day, Lara said that herself and Brian have collected hundreds of LEGO builds, many of which they keep displayed with shelving and lighting in their Brantford home.
“It’s funny because I already loved LEGO and one day I had just asked him if he would be interested in doing a build with me and I guess since then, you could say it’s kind of snowballed,” she said with a laugh. “After I got him two or three sets, he bought me LEGO flowers and we both just got really into it. He became obsessed with collecting Star Wars; I think he has about 240 sets now that are all displayed in his office, and I have 24 of my own sets around the house plus 12 more I still need to build. It’s just something we like doing and it’s great for date night.”
A financial analyst by trade, Lara said that after she was let go from her job this past November due to financial constraints, she wanted to make the best of the opportunity and try her hand at something she’d long been interested in… becoming her own boss.
“We had talked about potentially opening a LEGO retail store for years at that point and one day, Brian and I were out for lunch and I just looked down at our little LEGO mini figures on our key chains and I said ‘ you know what? maybe I should open up that store now,” recalled Lara. “He just had this look of excitement on his face and he was totally supportive. That was November 18 and on December 11, Bricks & Bloc’s had its soft opening, followed by the grand opening on December 15. It all happened so quickly, it’s actually still wild to think about it.”
Having been open for just under a month now, Lara said that she’s thrilled to see that her business has been well received by the community.
“It’s been extremely exciting and way busier than I had anticipated, I haven’t stopped working since we opened. A majority of people have found the store through social media and they’ve come in to check it out and I’m just so thankful for their support,” she said. “I had one lady come in early on and she took a bunch of pictures and posted them on Instagram saying that she was thankful to have my business in town and now I’ve just had so many other people come in to thank me and tell me ‘hey, thank you, we actually really needed this here.’ I mean, I knew that a lot of people liked LEGO but I didn’t think it would hit that hard with other people. It sounds odd but being able to bring that to Brantford for other people to experience the same thing that Brian and I do, it’s a big deal for me.”
She said just like how people often want to try on pants or shoes in a store, having a certified LEGO retailer in Brantford has saved collectors a trip far out of town to Toronto.
“I’ve had people leaving reviews saying that they’re glad we opened because it saves them a trip to Toronto and they would rather support a local business which, seeing as this is my hobby too, is exactly what I hoped I could do for people,” said Lara.
With nearly 200 sets offered in store, from Star Wars to Harry Potter, Marvel and Minecraft, botanical pieces, cars and guitars, there are plenty of options for LEGO enthusiasts to browse and buy.
“Every day we’ll have grown men and women come in with huge smiles on their faces pointing out what set they want to get next, it’s awesome to see how excited they get,” said Lara with a big smile. “I don’t think I’ve seen one unhappy person leaving this place.”
She said that while sets are always popular because it gives people an end goal to work towards, the biggest seller in store is surprisingly the bulk LEGO pieces.
“People will come in, either by themselves or with their kids, and while the parents are looking at the sets for themselves, they’ll hand their kiddos one of our cups to go through the bulk bin and it’s just a great time for them to pick out something to create at home on their own,” said Lara. “It’s also been great for people who are maybe missing or have lost something from their set too. Last week I had a gentleman from London call to ask if I had a certain piece, so I went through the bin and sent him a picture to confirm if it was what he was looking for and he was here in 45 minutes. It’s great because while LEGO has awesome customer service for things like that, if you don’t want to wait and you live close enough to come in, it’s a nice option to have.”
Not only is Lara a certified LEGO dealer, she also buys used sets from collectors as well.
“I’ll print off the instructions to the sets, go through every single piece and wash them, make sure they’re all there and then package them up for people to buy,” she said. “It’s great because those pieces and sets are often cheaper than the unopened ones, well, I guess it depends on how valuable or in demand it is, and so it can be a nice alternative for people.”
Lara said that overall, while people may think of LEGO as something for kids, there’s no age limit to sitting down and just enjoying a build.
“As a little kid, you love LEGO because you get to be creative and you get to make whatever you’re interested in, right? It’s the same thing for adults but the cool thing is that you get to go back to that time when you could just put on a TV show and not focus on anything but what you’re building in front of you,” she said. “Also, for the people who maybe didn’t have a great childhood, I think going out and buying a LEGO set geared to your specific interest is just one of those small things you can do to help move towards healing your inner child.”
She said for those who are interested in buying LEGO for either themselves or as a gift, to pop into her store and see if something catches their eye.
“You’ll be surprised at what you can find these days; back when I was kid we didn’t have sets, it was just a big bag that your parents bought you and said ‘here, try to see what you can build,’ right?” said Lara. “Nowadays, if you’re into something specific, maybe it’s botanicals or maybe it’s Sonic the Hedgehog or even Fender Stratocaster guitars, there are so many different subcategories that you can get into these days. I really do encourage people, especially the ones that haven’t built LEGO in decades, to give it a try; you might just be surprised at how great of a memory you’re left with.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
